Week 5
Catechism Q&A
Ch.1: How Redemption was Promised by God
- 1. Did the Lord, God suffer man to die in sin and misery?
No. He redeemed his people.
- Luke 1:68, 1 Peter 1:3-4
- 2. How did he redeem them?
By giving his only begotten Son.
- John 3:16
- 3. How could God give His Son?
He had to partake of flesh and blood; that through death he might destroy him that had power of death, that is, the devil.
- Hebrews 2:14-15
- 4. Was there no other way to redeem us?
No. No one could by any means redeem his brother.
- Psalm 49:7, Revelation 5:3-4
- 5. Was only one, our Saviour, to die for all?
Yes. For as by one man’s disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
- Romans 5:19
- I. The Promise to Adam and the Patriarchs Before the Giving of the Law
- 6. How could man know that a Redeemer was to come to atone for his sin?
God made this known to Adam, for he said to the serpent, “He (the seed of the woman, Christ) shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
- Genesis 3:15
- 7. Has this promise reference to Christ?
Yes. To Christ, the crucified one.
- Colossians 2:15, 1 John 3:8, Revelation 13:8
- 8. Did the faithful before the flood believe in this promise?
Yes. By faith Abel offered to God. So were Enoch and Noah of the faith.
- Hebrews 11:4-7
- 9. To whom did God make this promise more clearly?
To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when he said, “In you and in your offspring shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
- Genesis 12:3, 26:4, 28:14, Galatians 3:16
- III. Predictions by the Prophets Concerning Christ
- 17. Did the prophets foretell the coming of Christ?
Yes. All the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. - Acts 3:24
- 18. What did Moses say of the Saviour?
He said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen.” - Deuteronomy 18:15
- 19. Are there any predictions in the Psalms concerning Christ?
Yes. Not only the writings of Moses and the prophets, but also the Psalms prophesy concerning Christ. - Luke 24:44
- Ch.2: The Appearance of Christ for our Redemption
- 1. When did the Saviour appear in the world?
When the time, which had been predicted was fully come, God sent his Son. - Genesis 49:10, Luke 2:1, Galatians 4:4
- 2. How did he partake of flesh and blood?
He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary, and he was named Jesus. - Matthew 1:18,25, Luke 1:35
- 3. Where was the Saviour born?
At Bethlehem, in Judea. - Micah 5:2, Luke 2:4
- 4. Under what circumstances was he born?
Poor and despised, in a stable in Bethlehem. - Luke 2:7
- 5. Where was he brought up?
In Nazareth. - Luke 4:16, Matthew 2:23
Sacrifice & Atonement
Lesson 5 Notes
The problem, as discussed in week 4 is, that we do not have Life.
The solution then is, Life. We need Eternal Life.
For what purpose did Jesus come to Earth? What did He say?
John 10:10 “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Something to consider: you have lived your life your way for as long as you have been alive, and this whole time, Jesus has been offering His abundant and fulfilling life to you.
Where can this Life be found?
Only in the person of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:4-10
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
John 3:16
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”.
Notice, Jesus did not say, “but have forgiveness of sins” (although this is true, it is not the focus). He said, “but have eternal life.” (which is what we truly need).
Do you know that you are saved?
1 John 5:11-13
“11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
If you are not saved and don’t know how to go about receiving salvation, read the following.
Romans 10:9
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
This is not about simply believing that Jesus existed. This is about believing you are condemned without Him and believing that only He can save you from your condemned condition.
How is Jesus able to give us His life?
Through His death and resurrection.
What qualifies Jesus to be the giver of this Life?
First, He had to become like us. He had to become fully human; a baby, a toddler, an adolescent, a teenager, a young man, and an adult. He had to experience all these stages of life not as God but as a human completely dependent on Mary and Joseph as a child, completely obedient to His parents and to God as He grew older.
Second, He had to be made perfect. Although He was truly God and truly man, He did not pretend to be God, rather He emptied Himself and took on the form of a servant by being born as one of us (Philippians 2:6-8).
Hebrews 5 tells us that Jesus learned how to be obedient through what He suffered and once He was made perfect, He proved Himself to be the source of our eternal salvation.
Finally, He had to endure what was reserved for us but prevail as victorious – He had to pay the penalty for sin – which can only be done by that which is flawless.
How do we inherit this Life?
In order to inherit this solution, the Life of God, we need to undergo spiritual surgery.
Ezekiel 36:26
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
How does this happen to us today? By identification.
How do you identify yourself as male or female? Your body parts. However, what makes us male or female lies deeper than our eyes can see and so by faith, based on the physical evidence we see, we believe we are the gender we are.
In the same way, we identify by faith based on the evidence we have that Jesus was born of a virgin, died on the cross an innocent man, was buried, and then resurrected.
When we identify with all that Christ has done, we find our identity in Him which brings us back to eternal Life. Jesus is able to do this because He first identified with us and our sin so that we could be identified with His suffering and victory.
THIS IS ALL DONE IN FAITH!
Jesus said, “Repent and believe the Good News!”
The word ‘repent’ means to do a 180. If you are going in one direction, to repent means to change your mind, turn around and go in the opposite direction.
In other words, change your mind about the life you are living in your sin, and turn around to face Jesus.
THE FOCUS is not so much turning your back on sin, THE FOCUS is turning to face Jesus – Jesus is the focus.